Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/03/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]When I was a young boy, my class went on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Van Gogh was my hero that year, so when we entered the room that held the van Goghs, I peeled off from the group and sat on a bench, staring at one of the sunflower paintings. Soon my classmates left, and I was alone. Staring at the painting, with the murmur of footsteps in the background, I was entranced to be sitting alone in a roomful of van Gogh's colorful paintings. After a restful pause, I left my seat, and walked toward the painting, and stopped only inches away. Enchanted by the swirling colors and thick, pasty pigment, I reached up and plucked off a small piece of paint and put it in my change pocket. I then left to meet up with my class. I arrived home with my dangerous secret, and when I changed my clothes I couldn't decide where to put the paint chip for fear of losing it, so I left it in my change pocket and neatly folded my pants and placed them on my bed. The next day when I left for school, the pants and paint chip were still folded on my bed. When I returned home, they were gone. I asked my mother if she had taken them, and she answered, "Yes, I washed them." That was it--the van Gogh chip was gone. Just as well, I suppose. My conscience would have made me return the chip at some later date. Perhaps thirty years after the fact, I would have called the museum and explained the missing chip story. Still, if I had the chip, and did call, and an amused museum worked and said, "Forget it," I would be the bearer of one official van Gogh sunflower paint chip from painting--well, I don't remember which one. Allan On Tuesday, March 12, 2002, at 01:32 PM, Feliciano di Giorgio wrote: > Raimo Korhonen wrote: >> >> Yeah - van Gogh never sold any paintings in his life. >> All the best! >> Raimo > > I heard that after he died, a farmer used some of his paintings to patch > holes in a fence or barn. > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html